Gauss Kruger

A system using Transverse Mercator projections to map the world into numerous standard zones that are six degrees wide. The standard Manifold Gauss-Kruger projection is also known as the Pulkovo 1942 Gauss-Kruger projection. A similar Gauss-Kruger projection is implemented in the National Grids group of Manifold projections under Germany as the DHDN Gauss-Kruger projection presets.

Americans can best understand the Gauss Kruger system by thinking of it as a version of the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system with zones defined for European and Asian coverage. (Europeans, of course, can think of the UTM system as a version of the Gauss Kruger system that has been implemented by Americans.)

Like UTM or the State Plane Coordinate System, the Gauss Kruger system of projections is a living fossil. It was created mostly as a reflection of the technological limitations of an earlier era. When used with skill as originally intended it still functions well in expert hands. The problem with the Gauss Kruger system (as with UTM or the State Plane) is that it is constantly misused in civil applications by inexpert users who do not realize the limitations built into the system.